The Chute

DVD, Voyager S3 (The Chute)

The startling thing about this is the level of violence captured: we actually see a throat cut right in the middle of the frame! The style of the episode is very edgy for the series, even Trek in general, and violence is the focus of the episode, but I'm not sure what the messages are that it imparts, the story being fairly vague in that regard. I'll come back to that, but the more important thing this should be remembered for is that it took Harry Kim and Tom Paris' friendship to a new level. Early on in the series Paris was a sort of mentor to the green Kim, having experienced Starfleet and a good deal of life, a rough one at that. Kim symbolised the ideal life Tom had never had - love from his parents, dedication to a cause and his duty, all the things that had fallen by the wayside for Paris. So although it was mainly Kim learning worldly (or galactic!), ways from his friend, Paris also had Harry as a role model. That comfortable system was thrown into disarray in this episode, even beginning with Paris duffing his friend up in one of those ultimate 'Wha–?' teasers!

You think it's going to be about Paris looking after his younger friend in the midst of animal-like chaos, but it soon becomes about Harry having to protect his protector and coming of age in his Starfleet career. I mentioned before that this seemed to be edgy and violent for no reason except to make it more exciting, but it also pushes Kim to the edge of reason, far from the civil young Ensign we were so used to seeing week to week. Ultimately his ideals are squeezed out into the open. While tempted to end Paris' life and be done with the responsibility, Kim refuses to do the deed and though he's terribly guilty about the crazed beating he gave Tom when in his feverish state he broke the device Kim had been working on to get them up the chute to freedom, Tom chooses only to remember the outcome when Harry challenged anyone to lay a finger on his friend.

The clamp was a good device to get the characters to that state of murderous behaviour that pervaded the prison, and could be seen as a metaphor for the mix of drugs and hopelessness in real prisons, I suppose. I have to admit I didn't feel as engaged with this episode as much as I used to when I just thought it was a cool action story. It comes up trumps by the end and has some really good little parts to it, but much of the bleak prison scenes don't really go anywhere story-wise. There's an interesting debate to have over whether Zio was mad or not, obsessed with his 'manifesto' on how to survive the clamp and about the prison being a big experiment. If he was completely insane you'd think he'd act more like the other desperate inmates who scavenge and fight, eking out a survival in a pit of despair. Yet he seems to be rational and his understandings, though imparted eccentrically (I love the use of the glowing red chute as a halo around his head), have some truth in them.

For Kim this is a breakout episode, showing what the man was capable of and pushing him farther than he would ever naturally go. His deep friendship with Paris is like Bashir and O'Brien's on 'DS9' or Reed and Trip's on 'Enterprise,' falling somewhere between the two in development, although it's not entirely fair to judge the 'Enterprise' characters in the same way as they didn't get a full quota of seasons. It was also a strong episode for Janeway, although it's another one of those situations where she's anxious to play ball with the natives initially until their ways don't meet with her approval, but it's hard to feel bad at her handling of events because she couldn't let Tom and Harry rot in prison for a crime they didn't commit. She was willing to do everything legally until she realised there was no option in that regard and no leeway, so loyalty to her crew came first. It's not like she was dealing with a pre-warp civilisation anyway…

Forgiving the loose interpretation of the Prime Directive, Janeway gets to be action woman as well as diplomatically strong, standing up to the people she finds in her way and not backing down. She doesn't take any nonsense from anybody or make any bargains, she just goes for what she has to do to make the rescue and puts all her resources into it. I'm surprised Chakotay 'allowed' her to go on the rescue mission down the chute, but in the mood she was in, 'no' was not a word best used in her presence! I believe this was the first time we saw the updated phaser rifles of 'Voyager,' and it's a suitably impressive moment when Janeway slides down the chute brandishing this massive gun, before stunning several prisoners at once with the wide beam setting, a device infrequently used. Neelix' ship was a big help and really good to see again, I don't think it had been used since the pilot. It comes across as being rather nippy and made me wish Neelix used it more often, or hung out there in his spare time, fixing it up and fiddling about as Tom would later do with the Delta Flyer. It's wonderful to see a time when Neelix was still a very useful member of the crew, and though they still joke about his food, his presence is necessary, whereas in later seasons he becomes a bit of a handyman, used for any old odd job because they couldn't find enough use for him.

The space effects are good, though the ship battles are very brief. The true nature of the chute is excellently revealed (although I did feel it should have lingered for a second or two more before fading out as it was too quick to fully take in the detail). The whole episode is directed in a strong style, with handheld camera work to increase the impression of an unsteady society, but not overused to the brink of shakiness (as in many modern films). I also found it amusing when Tuvok tells Crewman Foster to take the prisoner away and you see she's this tiny woman who manhandles him through the door with great gusto - I like to think Tuvok kept her locked in a storage locker ready for the rough duty and whenever he deemed it necessary he'd let her out! One fact that wasn't in the history books when I last watched this episode a few years ago (probably around 2006!), is that an actor called Robert Pine features in the episode, and that his son, Chris, is now Captain Kirk in the new films! I'd forgotten the fact, though the Pine name stuck out, but it wasn't until I saw the Akritirian Ambassador that I noticed a resemblance and it came back to me.

This was actually the first episode of Season 3 that was shot (like the previous season, four episodes had been held over ready to show for this season), and it has the hallmarks of the new direction the series was heading for - much more dramatic, vibrant adventure stories, more like the pilot had promised, though the series (like early 'DS9'), had fallen into the trap of being too 'TNG'-ish, it was time to redress the balance and go for its own unique style. Although this episode isn't a classic, I still think of it as a strong installment and one that continued to grow the characters. I don't know why the Akritirians had Klingon-like ridges (perhaps it was to make us subconsciously put them on the same level of toughness), or why they were fed huge blocks of fudge, but apart from these minor details, the sets, acting, effects, lighting, direction and characterisation had clearly entered a new era.

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